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A previously reported welterweight fight between Demian Maia and Jake Shields looks to be set for October 9th as part of a UFC Fight Night.

Last month it was reported that Demian Maia and Jake Shields had verbally agreed to fight each other at a date TBD. Now it looks like they've determined the date and setting, as MMA Fighting's Guillherme Cruz reports that this fight will be in Brazil on October 9th as part of a UFC Fight Night on Fox Sports 1.

Maia (18-4) is 3-0 at welterweight with wins over Dong Hyun Kim, Rick Story, and Jon Fitch. It's been a career resurgence for the submission specialist, who had seemingly stagnated at middleweight following his title loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 112. Maia was supposed to fight Josh Koscheck at UFC 163 before Koscheck pulled out with an injury.

Shields (28-6-1, 1 NC) returned to welterweight after failing his drug test and losing his win against Ed Herman at UFC 150. The former Strikeforce champion defeated Tyron Woodley at UFC 161 in what can only be described as a fight that took place in the UFC this year. Shields is unbeaten in his last 3 and could conceivably re-enter the top 10 rankings with a win over Maia.

No word on whether this will be a main event or not, but a fight of this importance probably merits five round treatment. This card also includes Rony Jason/Jeremy Stephens and Erick Silva/Dong Hyun Kim, with a reported LHW fight between Thiago Silva/Matt Hamill also targeted for this date.

You would think the fact Jake was a wrestler would help him here but I really don't see it IMO he's fucked.

I really believe that people like Bill Murray or John Belushi are just as great and just as valid as Robert De Niro or Al Pacino. And I don't think you can say One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) is a better movie than Animal House (1978); they're different genres. I think they're both examples of great craftsmanship.

I understand the idea of Joe Silva putting two great BJJ guys or two great wrestlers together but often it just ends up being a boring stand up fight. Hope this isn't one of them

Agreed. Shields vs Woodley being a prime example.

I'm really wondering what Maia's strategy will be, considering that he didn't think twice about clinching and taking down Fitch, a guy known for wrestling and subs, just like Jake. My hunch is that at 170lbs, Maia doesn't care who you are and will utilize a clinch and ground-based gameplan against anyone. But it would be interesting to see how effective he can be with striking if he either can't take Shields down or chooses to strike with him (unlikely IMHO).